Reprise Review: Broken Christmas / David Henderson

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Short Story Collection

Approximate word count: 15-20,000 words

Availability   

Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: NO Smashwords: NO Paper: NO

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

I can find NOTHING about David Henderson! Except this on Goodreads, and it says nothing. ~sigh~

Description:

This is a collection of three short Christmas stories.

Fourth Wish

A homeless man finds himself leading a trio of privileged but neglected youths on Christmas Eve journey to fulfill their Christmas wishes.

Best Christmas Ever

An eight year-olds remembrance of a Christmas Eve his parents would rather forget. 

Broken Christmas

A soldier leaves the frozen battlefield behind and goes home for Christmas via his dreams.

Appraisal:

The Fourth Wish

Conrad seems to fit the typical homeless man at the beginning of this story. Until three eleven year-old boys spending their Christmas at a boarding school find him drunk and passed out on the snowy steps of their school. They manage to drag him into the school and down the hall to the showers. The only clothes they have for him to put on is a Santa suit, which they had been playing dress-up with to entertain themselves on Christmas Eve. Once Conrad dons the suit, the magic of Christmas takes over. Somehow Conrad finds it in himself to try and fulfill the three boys Christmas wishes. It is amazing what can be accomplished with a little ingenuity. The journey that Conrad takes the boys on is a well-told story that will make you smile. I loved this story.

Best Christmas Ever

The events of this Christmas Eve through the eyes of eight year-old Jimmy is hysterical. Nothing about this Christmas Eve is typical or what you would expect. The memorable day flowed seamlessly as they escalated and I laughed out  loud. This is the best story ever!

Broken Christmas

You can tell after reading the first two stories, this author knows what he is doing. I knew from the title of the story this one was going to be heart wrenching, but that still didn’t prepare me for what was coming.

The author has given us a sampling of his range in these three short stories. I found his stories easy to get drawn into and I cared about the characters. I think all the stories had a nice pacing and flowed well. I look forward to reading more from this author.

If you find yourself needing to escape for a few minutes during the Christmas rush this book would be a good choice.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars